


5 times Peter was saved

by dearparker



Series: whumping peter parker like it’s a full time job [5]
Category: Black Panther (2018), Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Avengers Family, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Awesome Michelle Jones, Awesome Shuri (Marvel), F/M, Flash Thompson Being A Jerk, Gen, Hurt Michelle Jones, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Men Crying, Mentioned May Parker (Spider-Man), Michelle Jones Is a Good Bro, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Outer Space, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Shuri Friendship, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is a Mess, Peter is a Little Shit, Please Don't Hate Me, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Avengers, Protective Bruce Banner, Protective Pepper Potts, Protective Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Sad Peter Parker, Sorry Not Sorry, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, T'Challa (Marvel) Is a Good Bro, Tired Peter Parker, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Worried May Parker (Spider-Man), Worried Ned Leeds, petermj things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-09-30 22:02:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20454248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearparker/pseuds/dearparker
Summary: ...and the one time he saved everyone-in other words strong boy peter parker saves everyone who took time to save him when they didn't have to





	1. I'm sorry MJ

**Author's Note:**

> this is prolly gonna suck ass but hey i'm trying and PLEASE READ THE TAGS FFS ok oh and i'm a whore for petermj so-

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It wasn't supposed to happen, he never actually wanted to die but he was so stupid and the street he walked across everyday was going to kill him in just a few seconds.

Carrying the weight of the world eventually gets hard.

It's exhausting and Peter was just so unbelievably tired of hurting, trying to carry the weight of the world. It's been months, even years and he is so, so tired and he wishes he didn't have to. But if that meant nobody had to feel what he did, then he was okay with it. On most days at least.

Some days were harder than others. 

Peter never wanted to get out of bed on those days. His blankets were inviting and they were soft, so soft and he was just so tired. He never wanted to face the world and May didn't understand. Maybe she did understand, she just didn't want the young boy to give in to the darkness. She couldn't lose him too and he didn't want her to worry though, so he shut his mouth and did whatever he usually did. He ran on autopilot most of the time, sometimes he couldn't even remember how he got from his apartment to school or from school to Happy's car.

Ned and MJ always noticed, even if other people didn't.

They never made him talk about what was bothering him, which he was so thankful for because he didn't even know why he felt the way he felt. Ned simply rambled and talked for him, and MJ would draw a picture of him with a rain cloud hovering over his head in her notebook. Peter couldn't ever thank them enough, but even if MJ took care of his notes and Ned talked for him, he couldn't escape the thick fog his mind was often stuck in.

The only escape he had was Spider-Man of course.

The wind danced beside him as he stood on the roof, glancing around the buildings that surrounded him. The building he stood on was one he didn't recognize, but it was tall and he could see everything from where he stood. He wasn't looking for crime though, he wasn't even dressed in his suit. His feet were cold as he stood on the edge of the roof, his plaid pajama pants had bunched at his feet. The cold was inviting though, it welcomed him and he could breathe. It was obvious Peter had no intention of being outside tonight, but he still had his web shooters on his wrists. He glanced down at them and made sure they were secure and weren't going to malfunction, because he wasn't sure what his next moves were going to be.

The sky was dark and he couldn't see the stars, but he knew they were there. They always were at night, but they liked to hide. Maybe they felt the same way he did sometimes. Wanting to disappear from burning eyes and worried glances because nobody understood.

But he was Spider-Man. Spider-Man was strong and loveable. He saved people, looking out for the little guy. The people of Queens loved him, even if they didn't know the kid behind the mask. 

A sigh was all it took for him to break. His shoulders sagged and his eyes felt hot and he wanted to give up. To give in. To let the weight of the world crush him and then maybe he would feel okay. Sure, Aunt May would probably be devastated but he was just so tired of acting like everything was okay.

Peter looked up at the stars, and he wondered if they got tired. If they ever gave up. They probably did, and he didn't blame them if they did.

Tears raced down his pale cheeks and he choked out a sob, clutching his chest. He felt angry and just so, so tired. So he screamed.

He screamed at the sky for taking his parents and Uncle Ben. He screamed because he couldn't be happy, because May also suffered. He screamed because he wasn't good enough, because Ned and MJ and Mr. Stark and definitely May deserved better. He screamed because nobody understood and nobody listened.

Not Aunt May, not Mr. Stark, not Ned, not MJ, nobody listened and they just wouldn't understand.

"<strike>_None of this would have happened if you would just listen to me!_</strike>"

Peter screamed one last time, hoping it would relieve so of the pain in his heart. He screamed because he felt like he was under that building again, screaming for help and nobody coming to help. Nobody could help him even if they wanted to.

He didn't even know why he did it. It wasn't supposed to happen but suddenly he wasn't standing. 

Peter was falling quickly and the sky was disappearing as building rose and took its place. He felt like he was dancing with the wind and he twirled, even with a confused smile on his face. He didn't understand what was happening for a moment but he suddenly gasped when he saw how close the street was. He stuck out his arm and desperately hoped the web would connect with a nearby building quick enough to save his life.

It wasn't supposed to happen, he never actually wanted to die but he was so stupid and the street he walked across everyday was going to kill him in just a few seconds.

His vision became blurry with tears at the realization that he was going to _die_. He takes it back, he couldn't leave Aunt May like that. He couldn't leave Ned and MJ by themselves because Flash was a bully and he made their lives hell. He couldn't leave Mr. Stark because then the man would blame himself and he knew it.

Peter cried out when a sharp tug pulled his shoulder in a direction it most likely wasn't supposed to bend, but he didn't care because he was swinging and he wasn't dead in the street like how he thought he would be. He cried out again as he swung, and suddenly he was crashing on top of an apartment building.

But he was _alive_.

He looked around and choked on a sob, placing his palms flat on the roof. His side hurt and blood dripped from the deep cut above his brow but dammit he was alive. He almost died and he hadn't even muttered goodbyes to the people he loved the most. To the reasons why he tried so hard. Queens wouldn't have Spider-Man anymore and Mr. Stark, May, Ned and MJ wouldn't have Peter Parker.

But he was alive and totally not dead.

Peter got up and despite his blurry vision, ran off the edge of the building and swung through the city. He couldn't tell where he was going but he came to a stop outside of a window and wiped his eyes. 

Inside was MJ.

He didn't even know why he was here, it was stupid. MJ didn't even know him like that and he didn't know her like that, but he couldn't ever tell Ned about what he had just done. What had almost happen. He certainly couldn't tell Aunt May or Mr. Stark either, so he inhaled and knocked on the window.

Peter saw MJ shuffle in her bed before a light clicked on and she glanced in his direction. Her mouth hung open for a moment before she stumbled over to the window and pulled it open. It was silent for a moment as she looked him over, reaching to wipe away more tears that fell from his brown eyes but she hesitated, dropped her arm and sighed. He could see that she was still tired but she motioned him inside regardless of most likely wanting to make his ass go home. He hesitated for a second too long and suddenly she tugged on his arm and he gasped, falling inside and landing on his bad shoulder but _fuck_, he was alive and MJ was too.

"MJ I'm so sorry." Peter stood up quickly and stumbled, MJ reaching out to steady him. He smiled thankfully at her the best he could as tears filled his eyes. Before he could stop himself, he wrapped his arms around her.

"I fucked up MJ, I'm so sorry. I fucked up and I almost died and I should have gone to someone because I need help and I- I was just so tired and I didn't mean to-"

He stopped talking when MJ finally wrapped her arms around him, her hand quickly finding its way to his hair. He sobbed into her shoulder and she held him tighter, like she was trying to stop him from breaking. She was trying to tape him back together even if she was awkwardly standing there with a boy she's only known for a few months in her arms. But MJ held onto him like he was so important, like if he had went through with it, she wouldn't take it very well.

Peter was the first to pull away and he frantically wiped his eyes, embarrassed. He just cried into MJ's shoulder as if it was okay and he felt stupid-

"Hey loser, I- I might not know how to show how much I care about you and Leeds, but- Damnit Parker I swear if you ever do something like that again I'll tell your Aunt and we'll both murder you." MJ laughed, but the humor wasn't there. She meant more and he knew that, knew that she was there.

Maybe she understood too. Maybe she got tired too, just like the stars and Peter. Maybe someone she once loved went through the same thing.

Peter was glad he shot out that web last second, otherwise he would be as flat as a pancake in the middle of Queens. He knew he was glad when MJ gave him a frozen pack of peas and awkwardly sat beside him. Glad that Ned and May didn't have to wake up to the news that Peter Parker had commit suicide, that Mr. Stark wouldn't have to blame himself for something that wouldn't ever be his fault.

He smiled at her and maybe, just maybe everything would be okay.


	2. "Holy Shit!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter never thought Mr. Stark would invite him to the Avengers Tower to celebrate his 15th birthday with so many superheroes, and he certainly didn't expect to be blown up 3 hours after his arrival.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> t'challa and shuri save peter's ass because i said so you can eat my dust i love them

_Holy shit, I'm meeting the Avengers in less than a hour-_

Peter snorted to himself, glancing out the window of the car. His heart jumped with anxiety but gosh, he was so excited. He'd finally get to speak to _the_ Bruce Banner and _the _Steve Rogers, which is a dream come true. Sure, he's spoken to them a little while he went on missions with the Avengers but he was _Spider-Man_ then. Spider-Man fought bank robbers and occasionally an "alien thingy" that decided to invade New York alongside the Avengers. Now he's Peter Parker, they knew him as Mr. Stark's favorite intern. He was simply a fourteen- now fifteen- year old nerd that landed a place at Stark Industries someway and somehow. All he did was talk about Star Wars with his best friend Ned and get bullied by Flash Thompson, so how the hell did he worm his way into Stark's grasp?

_Try a radioactive spider bite_

He shook his head and wiped his palms on his jeans, suddenly looking horrified with his outfit. He was extremely underdressed, a long-sleeve shirt with blue jeans was not something you wear to a party at the _Avengers Tower_. That was a school outfit, barely even that. It was the outfit of someone who was totally _uncool_. Seriously.

"Kid, get the hell out of the car. I've got to pick up Pepper. Now out. Now!" Happy snapped, stealing Peter's attention. His cheeks flushed with embarrassment and he scrambled out of the car, shocked when Happy didn't let the boy even mutter an apology before he took off. Peter gulped and shoved his hands into his pockets.

_Now that was harsh_

He nodded his head once and inhaled sharply, glancing up at the tall tower that stood before him. It's shadow of the Avengers Tower enveloped him, intimidating him so much he shrunk in on himself. The building was just so tall, and the large A that sat proudly at the near top of the tower almost made him run home. Forget this birthday party that Mr. Stark was throwing for him, and the fact that the Avengers were going to be there.

_Well of course they're going to be there, they live there._

Peter groaned before walking inside, his steps small and quick. He kept his head down until he stepped into the elevator, nearly jumping out of his skin when FRIDAY greeted him briefly and took him to wherever the party was being held. He gulped and deciding against asking the AI to just send him down to the lab. He had to do this because Mr. Stark put so much effort into this party and so many people were going to be there, he couldn't back out even if he wanted to. All too quickly the elevator doors opened and he was met with silence. Peter squinted, almost certain that this is where the party was being held. Maybe FRIDAY messed up which floor it was on? He took slow, hesitant steps forward, his heartbeat loud in his ears. He tried to focus on other heartbeats that might be in the room, but his heart was _thu-thumping_ so loud he thought he was going to die.

He didn't have to much time to think of anything else before he was met with loud shouts of _"Surprise!"_ and he yelped, falling backwards. He looked up and met the faces of the Avengers and _holy shit was that King T'Challa and Princess Shuri? No way-_

"Peter! It's great you finally decided to come inside after standing outside in the Tower's shadow for 18 minutes, but happy birthday kid!" Tony called out from beside Natasha and Rhodey, a smirk playing his lips while he looked down at the boy that was apparently stuck to the floor. Peter blushed furiously, trying to unstick from his spot on the floor when _the_ King T'Challa and _the_ Princess Shuri stepped toward him.

"It's great to meet you Peter." Shuri smiled at him and T'Challa offered his hand to Peter.

Peter blushed again and took the King's hand, finally coming off the floor. Though he was still sticky, and it was proved when he went to pull his hand from T'Challa's and he couldn't. He heard Tony bark out a laugh and say something along the lines of _"I told Pepper we should've bought him so gloves,"_ but Peter didn't care because he was _embarrassing_ himself in front of the King and Princess of Wakanda-

"Holy shit! How do you do that? Brother do you see-"

"Of course I see it Shuri-"

"Peter is it? Please tell me how you can stick like that! I- Oh we should probably get you to unstick first," Shuri cut herself off but didn't move to seperate the two males. Peter was _one thousand_ percent sure he looked like a tomato, but slowly his hand started to unstick and he was relieved because gosh, that was embarrassing. T'Challa only offered him a smile before scolding his sister for her 'invasive' questions. It didn't matter to him though because he'd expected them to all be freaked out with a mutant fifteen year old, but he realized how stupid that was. _The_ Bruce Banner was beside Thor and nobody had a problem with it because _nobody cared that he was different._

"H-hi," Peter cursed himself for stuttering. "I'm Peter."

He didn't know if it was possible to hate himself even more than he did, but apparently it was.

"You should eat something, then we can talk some more of your '_stickiness_', Spider-Man." T'Challa suggested, though he left no room for arguments. The trio rushed into the kitchen and started piling food into their plates.

Peter hadn't even noticed T'Challa knew of him being Spider-Man.

* * *

Peter didn't know a birthday party could be so amazing.

He got to talk to _the_ Bruce Banner, and he had even impressed the older man. That was totally cool and he can die happily now.

Him and Natasha played a card game called 'Speed', and he was always so close to winning before she placed down her last card and smiled sweetly at him. He got frustrated and rage quit, crossing his arms over his chest with a pout that earned barks of laughter from Tony, Rhodey, and Clint.

Thor offered him two beers, saying something about how he was a "_growing boy_" and deserved the "good" drink. He would've never took a sip if he had known it was beer because it was fucking disgusting and he spit it out when Thor wasn't looking. Steve quickly snatched the drinks away when he noticed he had them, dumping them down the drain and scolded the birthday boy and Asgardian.

He got on really well with Shuri the minute she quoted a vine. They were all split into two teams to "_fight to the death_" with paintball guns and Shuri found him crawling on the ceiling and had screeched, _"I won't hesitate bitch!"_, and shot him _15 times_. He was impressed she didn't miss a single shot, but even more impressed when she had quoted the vine. So he admitted defeat and literally rambled about how cool the princess was.

He could go on and on because everything and everyone was just so cool, but Tony poked his shoulder and brought him out of his thoughts.

"C'mon kid, we're going to the roof to get some birthday pictures in the sunset. Totally Instachat worthy if you ask me."

Peter made a noise at the fact Mr. Stark said 'instachat'.

"You're embarrassing me oh my-"

"You teenagers are embarrassing."

"Aren't you supposed to be in a museum with all the other fossils?"

Rhodey laughed loudly and Tony's mouth hung open. Peter smiled before walking away quickly, falling beside Natasha and Steve. He knew that Natasha wouldn't ever admit it, but he saw her laugh behind her hand.

All the Avengers made it to the roof in one piece, which was surprising, and they all gathered around to take some pictures with the birthday boy. Peter smiled in every one, and it seemed like everyone wanted hundreds of pictures of the now fifteen year old. He sat down beside Shuri, T'Challa, and Clint on the roof, but he was more daring than the others. He swung his legs over the edge and looked down. Clint grunted a protest, dragging the boy back by his shoulders. Peter pouted and glared at the archer, crossing his arms over his chest much like how he did earlier. They watched the sun go down together, birds flying in the distance. It was peaceful and relatively quiet, the other Avengers must have moved back inside. Well, it was quiet until Shuri whispered, _"Look at all those chickens,"_ and T'Challa groaned while Peter laughed and Clint snorted.

A bird hovered by Peter's feet, getting closer and eventually landed in his outstretched hand. He brought the bird closer to him and glanced at the others, they didn't see the bird. He looked at the strange bird, he'd never seen anything like it before. Of course he wasn't a bird expert, but he was sure almost all birds had beady black eyes. This one though had sharp, piercing green eyes that stared right at him. It turned it head to the side as if to get a closer look, before the animal went rigid in his hand. Now Peter was even more suspicious about this bird, because birds _just don't do that._ They don't have piercing green eyes, and they don't go rigid in your hand at closer inspection. He looked at it closer than before, and he noticed that it didn't even have feathers. 

_It wasn't even a bird._

The "bird" screeched in his hand, opening its mouth and vomited something bright pink right into his eyes. Peter would've loved to make a joke at the moment, but whatever pink fluid the "bird" puked into his eyes started burning. **Badly**. He cried out and squeezed his eyes shut, which made it worse. He heard Shuri ask what the hell was wrong, but he didn't focus on her voice because his eyes were basically _melting_ and the "bird" was vibrating in his hand and suddenly _blew up._

It happened too quickly. One moment he's sitting with what was supposed to be a bird in his right hand, then the next he's being blown up after getting bright pink fluid puked into his eyes.

Peter couldn't hear anything except ringing. He couldn't even hear his own breathing, he was sure he was dead. It was Coney Island all over again, where he had nearly gotten beaten to death by the Vulture. It was like a flashback, and suddenly the pain hit him like a train. He gasped when he felt it. His ribs were definitely poking into his lungs, which he didn't think was right. His hand was pink and the skin wasn't even there. His legs screamed in pain along with the back of his head. He pushed himself to stand and cried out at the pain in his ankle. It made him crumble in pain, but that was the wrong move.

It was the rooftop all over again, where he had almost killed himself a month ago.

Peter screamed, snapping his eyes open as he started falling backward because he didn't want to die and suddenly he was falling, but before he could get too far, a hand grabbed his wrist. It bent and made a popping noice that made him cry out, but gosh this was terrifying. He looked up and halfway expected it to be Tony Stark wearing his Iron Man suit, or even Steve Rogers because the man always jumped right into the line of fire, and he was sure Clint, T'Challa and Shuri didn't survive the bomb from how close they were, but he was surprised. Shuri had both of her hands wrapped around his wrist and started pulling. She had a cut the traced her hairline that was bleeding a lot and the skin on her left shoulder was peeling and burned but she was so determined to save him, to save Peter Parker.

Not Spider-Man, Peter Parker.

She slipped though, but before they could both fall to their deaths, T'Challa pulled them back onto the roof. Peter gasped, tears sliding down his cheeks. There was shouts and suddenly Mr. Stark and Bruce were in front of him, helping him up and saying something about getting him to the Medbay, but he shrugged off their hands and stumbled towards Shuri and T'Challa. Clint was nowhere in sight, probably already in the Medbay, but Shuri and T'Challa were right here.

"Are you guys alright?" Peter coughed out and in return he received a shocked look from T'Challa, but Shuri glared at him.

"You just got blown up on your 15th birthday and you're asking _us_ if we're alright?" Shuri rolled her eyes when Peter shrugged like it wasn't a problem.

Before he could respond, he was being tugged away by Tony and Bruce. He looked back up at the duo and gave them a look. He hoped it was enough.

_Thank you for saving my life, I can't express how grateful I am. I won't waste this._

He knew his message got across to them when Shuri smiled warmly and T'Challa simply shook his head with a fond smile that played his lips.


	3. Rescue Armour to Your Right

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MJ clung onto him and for the first time fear swam in her wide, brown eyes. Peter couldn't reassure her and he wished he could, but then they were dropped and started falling to their deaths.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love pepper :)

Peter hated Thursday's.

The school lunch wasn't as good as usual on these days, with a weird white "fruit" that burned your nostrils with a single sniff. Ned had said it smelled like bleach and dirt which made Peter throw it away quickly because it did.

May worked well into the morning on Thursday's and Peter wanted nothing more than to fix the strain on their relationship, but it was hard when they were both never home.

Flash poured a carton of chocolate milk down his shirt on a Thursday the year before.

On Thursday's stupid things happened.

Flash tripped Peter on a Thursday one year which ended with tears and a bright red cast around his arm that broke his fall.

This Thursday the fire alarm went off.

A shriek of the fire alarm caused students to mutter anxiously among themselves, glancing around and then taking quick strides toward the classroom door. They rarely had fire drills, and especially not in the first week of school. So you couldn't blame students for being anxious, but they moved at a steady pace towards the football field. Hundreds of students gathered onto the large grass area, conversations growing in volume. Peter stood next to his teacher, who's name he didn't even remember, and scanned the crowd. It was unusual for the fire alarm to just go off, and students never pulled it. Pulling the fire alarm was just childish, not only that but it landed you two days of suspension. Nobody bothered to. He was alert though since his spider sense created a low hum at the base of his skull, he knew something was wrong but he got distracted when MJ punched his arm and asked him where Ned was. He couldn't give her an answer so he shrugged his shoulders, sighing of relief when she turned back to the book she was reading before being interrupted. 

He slipped in an earpiece and was greeted by Karen's firm voice. He smiled slightly.

"Hi Karen, do you know what's going on?" Peter asked quietly, covering his right ear and glanced around. Nobody noticed how he was talking to himself, which was a relief.

_"I cannot figure out what disturbance has occurred, but the Avengers have been notified and are arriving two blocks away from your current location. Would you like me to connect with FRIDAY?"_

"Yeah, thanks Karen." 

Peter sighed and dragged his hand down his face, waiting to hear Mr. Stark's AI in his ear. He looked around the football field and his spider senses picked up, the hair on his arms stood and he stopped. Glancing around, nothing had happened but suddenly he heard a shout in his earpiece.

"FRI, what's going on?" Panic laced his tone and his breath hitched, because whatever was happening _wasn't_ good and it _was_ getting closer. He awaited the AI's response, sparing a glance at MJ. She had her book tucked under her arm and she was whipping her head around suspiciously before her gaze met his. She knew something was wrong and so did Peter, but they couldn't figure out what. Nobody in that crowd could.

He never got a response from FRIDAY, but he got one from Mr. Stark.

_"Some sort of small alien attack on New York, kid I swear if you jump in on this one I'll kick your ass."_

Peter rolled his eyes at Tony's response, "I don't have my suit on me, only my web shooters. And besides I'm at school, you know how important it is."

_"School is important Peter, don't let girls distract you. You're a chick magnet."_ Steve's voice rang in his ears and Peter blushed, looking up at MJ who gave him a curious glance in return. Before he could dish out a response his spider sense screamed, alongside a few students. He looked up and his breath hitched because apparently Tony didn't think the situation was that serious, because it wasn't just some small alien attack on New York. No, those things were huge and they multiplied in the sky, with multiple legs and faces that didn't exist. People were screaming and teachers were trying their best to keep everyone calm, but how the hell do you do that with _hundreds_ of aliens swimming in the sky above you?

The teachers were succeeding at keeping everyone calm until an alien took a dive straight towards the large group of students. Peter's sense screamed at him to _move! move! move!_ but he froze in fear because that thing was diving _straight for him_ and he couldn't breathe. MJ tugged harshly on his arm, yelling at him to move his feet but he just couldn't. Students dived out of the way and sprinted in different directions and by the time Peter decided to move, it was too late. The alien screeched and wrapped its tentacle (in all honesty he had zero clue what it was) around his foot and dragged him upward. He cried out at it's tight grip and reached out for MJ who pulled her hardest to keep his ass on the ground, put it didn't work.

Instead, they were both pulled up together.

MJ gasped and gripped Peter's arm tightly as the ground disappeared from underneath the duo and they were hauled into the air. Peter looked around and he heard Natasha barking at him for a response in his earpiece, but gosh he couldn't breathe and he couldn't see anything because MJ's hair whipped in his face so the world was dark for a few seconds. Her grip left crescents in his biceps as she pulled herself closer to him, and suddenly he could see again. He looked down at the football field he stood on about a minute ago and it was so tiny his breath caught in his throat.

_"Peter! Update us now!"_ Rhodey's voice broke his state of panic and Peter gasped, suddenly realizing that a fall from this height could kill him. It would kill MJ.

"The alien thing! It hauled my ass up in the sky with my friend and it would be fun and all-"

_"You're telling me you got abducted by an alien?!"_ Sam yelled in his ear.

_"Tony how quickly can you get there?"_ Steve asked frantically, out of breath.

_"I'm on my way now!"_

Peter glanced at MJ who was shaking in his arms, his vision was blurry and he couldn't inhale properly, but she seemed fine for the most part. He couldn't believe they both got grabbed by an angry alien in the blink of an eye, but he was angry and scared. He wanted to yell at MJ for being so stupid and hanging onto him instead of letting go because they were going to die sooner than later. Not if Tony got there soon, but Peter couldn't see the flash of red and gold armour. All he could see was MJ and her brown eyes that were filling with tears. She probably knew that a fall from this high would kill them, and maybe just maybe Tony would show up in time to save them. Maybe they would be rescued and could put this behind them, graduate top of their class and go to their favorite colleges. He thought that could be a possibility but one look at thr girl in his arms changed his mind. MJ clung onto him and for the first time since being hung in the air, upside down, hundreds of thousands of feet off the ground, fear swam in her wide, brown eyes. The alien was loosening it's grip on Peter, and he couldn't reassure her like he wished he could because the alien released its iron grip on his leg and started their descent to their deaths. He couldn't contain his scream and he heard the hum of voices coming from his earpiece, but all he could focus on was MJ's grip on the sleeve of his shirt and how fast their brains were going to splat on the ground.

Peter heard Tony's shout and suddenly a flash of red and gold appeared. He wanted to cry of joy but he couldn't because _Tony wasn't quick enough_. He felt MJ being ripped from his grip and suddenly he was alone. He couldn't grab Tony's outstretched arm in time and began free falling toward the ground.

"Peter!" "Kid!"

<strike>He was alone and he was going to die.</strike>

It was easier to accept this time, seeing MJ in Mr. Stark's arms made it easier because she was okay and so was Mr. Stark. Peter was close to accepting the fact he was going to die because the ground was so close and he could hear Mr. Harrington yell at students to move and get out the way when he heard another voice. The voice was firm and furious, but it was familiar.

"Rescue Armour to your right, Peter!" Pepper's voice made Peter cry out, whipping his head to the right just in time to grab the suit's hand and he wasn't falling anymore. Pepper held him tightly as the Avengers kicked some alien ass, he cried when they touched back down on the ground and the Rescue Armour clicked softly. The faceplate disappeared and there was Pepper in all her glory.

She pulled him into a hug that was sort of awkward because of the suit that swallowed her, but Peter didn't care. She saved his life and she looked so relieved to see him on the ground. Staying close to the ground like how he said he would. She murmured something he couldn't decipher softly in his ear, and he didn't even care.

Peter broke away first and smiled at Pepper, tears falling from his eyes and a sob escaping his tight lipped smile. He was okay and so was MJ.

Speaking of MJ she shouted for him as soon as Tony and her had landed, escaping the older man's grip and sprinted toward him. She wrapped her arms around him, a few tears falling onto his shoulder. Peter held her tightly and from the corner of his eye he saw Pepper smile fondly and he turned to her.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me, Peter. If you died then nothing would be the same," Pepper motioned toward MJ who spared a glance at her, "I'll leave you alone. Stay close to the ground like you promised,"

Peter didn't have the time to say goodbye before Pepper turned towards the rest of the Avengers, and he couldn't ever express how grateful he was for her. For the Avengers.

They always saved his ass.


	4. Queens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of course Peter smacked flat onto the concrete so hard that he didn't get up, coughing up blood. The blood that was pooling underneath him at an alarming rate was warm and it had to have come from his head injury, but he couldn't feel a thing. He couldn't do anything except watch the figure that was approaching him. He coughed and smiled, showing off his bloody teeth.
> 
> "Hey Queens, let's get you up."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter surprises me bc like i lowkey hate steve but i like him, yknow?

Peter didn't mind ditching a class from time to time, especially since Spanish and History were terribly boring subjects that dimmed his view on school. He didn't necessarily care about history, it wouldn't and never did matter in the present. Certainly mistakes _can_ repeat themselves, a full on war breaking out over two countries, but it's not worth writing a four page essay on something he never ever experienced.

Tragedy struck everyday, couldn't they focus on that? The fact that aliens invaded New York at least once a year? Thousands of teenagers across the globe turned to drugs and suicide, people dying everyday? Wasn't that important too? Of course though, nobody cared about the present. Only the past and the future.

Learning about _history_ in _Spanish_ class though? Peter was sure his brain was going to melt and drip down the sides of his ears, irritation breaking through his stoic expression and his eye twitched. He gripped the edges of his desk and spared a glance at Ned with an expression that screamed_ "I'm going to scream in two seconds."_

Ned looked startled and opened his mouth to reply, but got cut off by the bell. He watched Peter shove all of his belongings into his backpack and dart out of the classroom, mouth open in shock.

As soon as he was out of the suffocating classroom, Peter walked right out of the front doors of Midtown. He didn't care if people saw him and called his Aunt May or Mr. Stark, he was just so stressed and he needed a break. He gripped the hair by his ears and tugged, hoping to relieve himself of the pounding headache forming behind his eyes.

This week has been long, tiring and gosh he was just so _tired_. Spider-Man had gotten grounded after staying out past curfew on Monday morning, and the blood that trickled down his thigh and stained the dirty carpter of his room got him an even bigger kick in the ass. So of course the red and blue suit hadn't made an appearance since the lecture he had received from May. Of course he still kept the suit and web shooters stuffed at the bottom of his backpack, but he hadn't gone out around the city. He's been running on little to zero sleep, the tears that stung his eyes constantly made it obvious. 

Overall, he felt terrible.

Peter barely acknowledged how his phone was beeping until the screen turned bright red, his hands clutched it tightly in confusion. It was an alert, an alert from _Captain America,_ asking for as much help as he can get. Although there wasn't any other information and Peter didn't know the seriousness _(okay obviously it was serious if the Avengers were dealing with it, but still)_ of whatever was going on. He raised his eyebrow, a smirk painting itself on his lips when he realized the Avengers wanted to include him on this mission. 

The exhaustion slipped away as he stumbled back into the school and dipped into the bathroom, changing quickly into the suit. He felt the web shooters secure themselves around his wrists and he smiled, slipping through the small window in the room.

It was good to be back.

Peter smiled from underneath his mask as Karen gave him directions to where the Avengers were located, the soft _thwip_ of his webs hitting the edges of buildings sent a wave of adrenaline rumbling through his veins.

He flipped through the air and soared high in the sky, thanks to his handy webs of course, arriving at his destination in a little over ten minutes.

He landed on the side of a building with a quiet thud, looking around at his surroundings. Sam soared past his head at record speed, chasing what looked like-_ a fucking human lizard?_ But it could fly?

The amount of questions he had didn't even have a number to group them all, but he had no time to think of it further.

He swung around the edge of the building, barely dodging the arrow that sped past his head and took in the sight before him. Vision was assisting Sam in the sky while Steve, Natasha and Bruce (more so the Hulk as of now,) struggled to take down a orange skinned creature that was twice the size of the Hulk. Clint seemed to be handling the monster in front of him better than the rest of his team, said monster being a hit away from unconsciousness. Mr. Stark and Rhodey were nowhere to be seen, but he knew they were there when Mr. Stark spoke to him.

"_Peter, kid, after the dinosaur. It disappeared behind the building you're on after deciding he wanted to try and get a taste of Honeybear._" 

Thank God they were surrounded by abandoned buildings.

"On it!" Peter exclaimed and started his search for said dinosaur. "What exactly are we dealing with, Mr. Stark?"

"_We're not sure what they are, but they're enhanced. Probably an experimentation gone wrong._" Natasha answered sharply instead of Mr. Stark, frustrated at the orange skinned monster who shrieked in fury.

"Thanks Miss Romanov! Karen, track the dinosaur down there. See if we can take him by surprise," Peter said, gaining distance on the monster.

"**With pleasure, Peter.**"

He swung onto the roof of a building, crawling the distance quickly to glance over the edge to where the dinosaur had been, but it had disappeared. He furrowed his brows and squinted his eyes, almost missing the sudden movement. 

A glass window had cracked so quickly and he saw an invisible blur, obviously it had to have been the dinosaur. He didn't even hear Karen's voice as he stretched out his hand and shot a web.

Peter almost believed he had been seeing things when his web finally connected with the invisible dinosaur, which at that exact moment revealed itself. It had fair skin with a hint of green underneath, so it was basically a human, minus the large, green wings the stabbed through the lab coat on its back.

_Lab coat_?

It's eyes somehow had morphed into one, totally not normal eye in the center of its face. The dinosaur opened it's mouth and screamed so loud Peter doubled over in pain, desperately attempting to block out the noise. His vision went white for a few seconds until the ringing faded slightly, finally looking up.

_Natasha was right, totally an experimentation gone wrong._

"Karen what the hell is that!?" Peter yelped, barely dodging out of the way when the dinosaur/monster thing lunged at him with a shriek.

"_Language._" Steve scolded him.

"**I cannot identify what it is at this moment, until then it's weaknesses and strengths remain unknown.**" Karen sounded frustrated, probably attempting to identify the species before him long before he had asked her to. She hasn't succeeded yet though.

"That's okay, Karen! Take your time, yeah?" Peter didn't know why he was comforting his AI, but he didn't give it a second thought. "Anyone want to tell me what the hell this pterodactyl wanna be wants? Or is it going to eat me first?"

"_It's not going to eat you Peter._" Rhodey sighed into his ear.

"It tried to eat you Mr. Rhodes! You don't know that!" Peter grunted, looking at the web that was still attached to the pterodactyl.

"Taser web it, Karen!" He cried out when the monster jerked backwards, trying to free itself from the web. He probably messed up the request but the web started electrocuting. He observed it with clenched teeth, feet digging into the roof of the building the duo stood on because hell he was tired of falling. 

Suddenly the creature shrieked loudly again after being electrocuted and flipped in the air, breaking away from the web.

Upon closer inspection, Peter saw that the lab coat had bold letters printed right above the breast pocket. His breath hitched when he saw '**Oscorp', **sudden memories blinded him for a moment.

"_Orange guy took off! Keep your eyes peeled._" Bruce exclaimed.

"_I cannot see him from here._" Vision stated.

"**Peter wa-**"

The building Peter was standing on shook beneath his feet from such a strong force it knocked him off of his feet. He glanced around the best he could, looking from the source. _Was it a bomb?_ Suddenly, the pterodactyl grabbed him, slamming him into the rooftop over and over again.

"Why... does this... always happen to... me!" Peter gasped out, finally gripping the talons that dug into his chest with all the strength he could gather and landed away from the pterodactyl.

The exhaustion from earlier came back full force, causing him to stumble a bit. His eyes drooped and the pain became unbearable, but the fire within him roared and he refused to give up.

He shot web after web rapidly, using different combinations each time. He was so determined to end this fight, to get this pterodactyl thing to stop trying to kill him. 

The webs piled onto the creature and it shrieked, one last web secured to the ground. No matter how much it pulled and pulled, it was stuck.

"You and I are no different, Spider-Man!" The pterodactyl cried out, it's distorted voice sent shivers down his spine. "They'll hate us forever! Mutants like you and I! We're the same, Spider-Man! An accident that couldn't be prevented, and you know it. There's not a difference!"

Peter never got the chance to respond, his spider sense _screamed_ at him and for a second he thought it was the pterodactyl thing in front of him, but he was mistaken when a giant, orange hand wrapped around his throat. He choked, eyes widening.

"Spider-Man, you disgust me." 

Why the hell did all of these creatures- _mutants_\- have distorted, scary sounding voices?

"**Peter, your injuries require medical attention-**"

"_Spider-Man seems to be in trouble. The Orange Mutant found him._" Vision's statement made Peter roll his eyes.

The Orange Mutant squeezed his hand tighter around his neck before he drew his arm back and suddenly Peter wished he hadn't ditched history.

He had been _thrown_. Like a rag-doll.

"Fuck!" Peter gasped and suddenly everything was moving in slow motion. He looked up just seconds before colliding with Rhodey in the sky, but he had bigger problems. Of course he was concerned about Rhodey, he adored the older man.

War Machine recovered quickly, shouting for somebody to catch Peter.

"_Somebody grab Peter!_"

"_I'm stuck- I won't reach him in time!_"

"_Tony!_"

Reaching out, Peter pressed on the button that sat in the middle of his palm but nothing had happened. He clicked it frantically.

Suddenly everything went dark when he collided with a building, shooting out the other side and kept falling. He was sick and tired of falling. His web shooters weren't working, or he had run out of fluid, and now he was in even _more_ pain. It was excruciating, blinding even. He didn't even realize he wasn't falling anymore, he was lying on his right shoulder in the middle of the street. Abandoned buildings surrounded him, their shadows swallowed him and he let out a strangled cry.

Peter couldn't move, something was totally wrong. He could hear the shouts of the Avengers in his ear, panic laced in their tones. He picked out Natasha's shout and Tony spitting out questions of his whereabouts. He couldn't even mutter a response, but he gave a wet cough which seemed to be enough for the team.

Of course Peter smacked flat onto the concrete so hard that he didn't get up, coughing up blood. He couldn't get up, no matter how hard he yelled at himself mentally to get up because for fucks sake he was _Spider-Man._

Spider-Man _always_ gets back up.

The blood that was pooling underneath him at an alarming rate was warm, it had to have come from his head injury, but he couldn't feel a thing. Peter blinked and focused, finally feeling his eyelashes flutter against his cheek softly. It was a start, but it still wasn't much.

So when he saw somebody walking toward him, he panicked. He couldn't do anything except watch the figure that was approaching him. He looked up, straining his eyes to see the man that stood in front of him. He coughed and smiled, showing off his bloody teeth.

"Hey Queens, let's get you up."

Steve's voice was firm but he wore a panicked, concerned expression as he glanced down at Peter. He reached out with shaky hands, unsure of where to touch the teenager.

Peter was so _still_.

"C'mon Queens," Cap murmured, picking the boy up by his armpits. Peter grunted, but for the most part he didn't feel a thing. He just knew he was tired but he couldn't sleep, closing his eyes for longer than thirty seconds obviously meant _death_.

He somehow managed to limp beside Steve, tightly clutching the blue fabric on the older man's shoulder. He heard commotion coming closer, but he didn't care.

Peter spared a glance at Steve, and he smiled. The words didn't have to be spoken in order to be heard.

_**"**thank you, steve.**"**_

_**"**.not a problem, queens**"**_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm extremely irritated with my writing, it's totally shit and it's not my best. sorry guys


	5. You're a Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ned had to remind Peter he's worthy of love, happiness.
> 
> Peter is worthy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love peter and ned's friendship, it reminds me of my own :) 
> 
> also i'm not saying that peter is worthy like talking about mjolnir cuz idk how ur considered worthy? like what makes you worthy idk but enjoy

Peter and Ned are best friends.

They met in school, immediately becoming the best of friends after Ned said something about Star Wars.

They defended each other when Flash tortured them with his repetitive jabs at their appearance, living conditions, and even their weight.

They had geeked over the Avengers for years, and even when Peter became Spider-Man, who saw the Avengers every once in a while, they still talked about the group as if they were the creators of the Earth and life itself.

They were best friends, even now as sophomores in high school.

Peter and Ned are best friends.

...

Right?

But best friends don't keep secrets from each other.

_Right??_

But Peter has been lying _and_ keeping secrets.

From Ned.

His best friend.

His guy in the chair.

Guilt washed over him like a wave, shoulders sinking and his breath hitched. His best friend hasn't had a clue about all of the events that have taken place over the last three months, minus being dropped to his death in front of the entire school by an angry alien thing.

He had almost _killed_ himself, got _blown_ up, nearly _broke his neck_ and _died_, and he hadn't uttered a _word_ to his best friend.

Ned had always been there for him, no matter the what, when, or why. So nothing like visiting him three hours after curfew clad in his Spider-Man suit to unleash his mortifying demons that grew stronger day by day?

Sure Peter had a few wounds, blood had stained his suit a darker red, but surely Ned wouldn't notice. Surely Ned wouldn't notice the bags underneath his eyes, his sharp cheekbone and slightly baggy suit from weight loss.

_Surely_.

Demons scratched at the curves of his mind, screeching into the dark void terrible, angry thoughts. They screamed at him, telling him things he thought wasn't true, they were never quiet and they certainly weren't nice.

_"You'll never be good enough, Parker."_

_"Ned and MJ don't care about you."_

_"Mister Stark regrets giving you a chance."_

_"You're a failure to many, Peter."_

They haunted his dreams, keeping him up at night and scaring him.

_What if I do it again?_

But Ned was like a light at the end of a dark tunnel. He had always been able to help Peter, whether it was from the time Flash had broken his glasses when they were younger or when he had his first panic attack at school after Liz Allan's father- Mr. Toomes, the _Vulture_\- had been mentioned in a conversation that was too quiet for normal ears to hear. 

Ned had wiped his tears, picked up the glasses and stuck an Iron Man band-aid on the broken arm of his glasses. With a smile, he handed them back to Peter.

Ned had wiped his tears and clutched his hands on the bathroom floor of Midtown, whispering meaningful phrases into his ears while desperately trying to stay calm. 

_"It's okay Peter," Ned had whispered, rubbing his thumb over Peter's knuckles. The boy sobbed in response._

_"No Ned he-he almost killed me and I-I didn't even tell any-anyone where I- where I was a-and-"_

_"Peter, you still kicked his ass even after he almost killed you. You got back up and fought. You always get up. That's what Spider-Man does, right?"_

_"But still-"_

_"You're a hero, Peter. You did what was right, and now you're here. Mister Stark is proud of you, May is proud of you, and I'm proud of you. Everybody in Queens is, you can't forget that."_

"K-Karen?" Peter squeaked and grimaced at his voice.

"_Yes Peter_?"

"Can- can you text Ned or something? T-to tell him I'm going to stop by."

"_Of course, Peter._"

He sighed and rubbed his gloved hands over his mask, taking a deep breath before he jumped off the building and began making his way to Ned's.

The soft _thwip, thwip, thwip_, calmed him down tremendously, but some part of Peter still raced with anxious, scrambled thoughts.

He tried to focus on swinging and getting to his friend's house, but gosh, what if Ned hated him?

The thoughts quickly evaporate at the sight of the open window to Ned's room, light streaming into the surrounding night. He smiled and quickly landed gracefully inside of the room.

Ned stumbled from where he stood, a tupperware filled with leftovers was in his right hand with his phone in his left.

"Hi," Ned seemed, nervous?

"Hi." Peter whispered back, taking in the sight of his friend. He looked nervous, hair swept one direction from sleeping on his left side. His hand gripped the phone and tupperware tightly, unclenching every once in a while.

"H-how have you been? I- I mis-"

"I haven't been honest with you,"

Ned's eyebrows furrowed out of confusion and Peter clenched his fists anxiously.

_Why the hell did you cut him off, Peter?_

_You want him to hate you, huh?_

"I-I'm so sorry Ned. It's just-just that a lot has happened and I know I should have at least let-let you know that I'm okay- that I'm alive especially after you know- sort of falling to my death? Point is I-I'm sorry and y-you deserve a better best- a better friend and I-I understand if-if you want to replace me but I just need to be honest. I-I need to tell you the truth," Peter's voice was thick and he swallowed, the floor suddenly became the most interesting thing in the world.

"Peter I'd never repla-"

"I almost killed myself, Ned." Peter whispered, but it was so loud in that room. Ned's mouth snapped shut and his eyes went wide. He took his friend's silence as an invitation to continue.

"I-If I didn't have my web shooters... I would've been a human pancake," He tried to joke but the humor died in his throat. "I almost _died_ and I-I never told you."

"I got blown up. At the tower, again I almost fell to my death. The bomb was right in my hands and I didn't- I didn't even think anything of it. I almost _killed_ Clint, I almost _killed_ King T'Challa and Princess Shuri. I fell off the roof a few moments after it went off," Peter paused and glanced at Ned. He had tears in his eyes.

"Shuri and T'Challa saved my life. Then you know- the alien thing dropped MJ and I, but I'm over that. I think? Um, I almost broke my neck on a mission with- with the Avengers. I would've died if-if Steve never found me. And I never- never told you _anything_. I didn't say shit."

Peter's eyes were glistening with tears as he finished, his gaze burned holes through the fruit punch stain on the brown, fuzzy carpet beneath his feet. He just wished he had the courage to look his friend in the eye.

Seconds quickly turned into minutes, but he attempted to distract himself by staring at the floor. Ned hadn't uttered a word, the silence was deafening and uncomfortable. It swallowed them but they were scared to speak, scared of saying the wrong thing.

"_Why_?" Ned questioned.

"W-What?" Peter looked at him, eyebrows furrowed out of confusion.

"Why did you do it?"

The question's response was silence, Peter had no idea what to say. Words died in his throat, choking him and making it harder to breathe.

"I-I'm sorry Ned, I really am. I-I was just-just so _tired_ and _angry_ and _sad_ and I wasn't-didn't think about what I was doing." He croaked, "I almost died... and I would've died if-if I didn't have my web shooters."

Peter sobbed, wrapping his arms around his middle and allowed himself to break down. Ned was by his side in seconds, placing a hand gently on his shoulder. The two boys ended up on the floor, Peter wrapped in Ned's arms as he cried.

"I'm sorry, I haven't told you a thing and-and I know this i-is pathetic and gross b-because Spider-Man is s-strong but I'm not. I'm _weak_ and _stupid_ for almost killing m-"

"No."

"What do you mean no-"

"I said no. Spider-Man is strong, but you are the one behind the mask. Peter Parker, the fifteen year old boy who is by far the smartest and the strongest person in all of Queens. Without you I wouldn't know what to do.

"MJ and I would sit in silence at our lunch table without you there. We would leave your seat open, but nobody's allowed to sit there. May would grab one of your sweatshirts and hold it tightly as if you were in it, hugging her back. Mr. Stark wouldn't have his Spiderling that saves his ass every once in a while and hands him tools in his lab.

"I wouldn't have my best friend. The boy who punched Flash in the nose because he called MJ and I homophobic slurs. The boy who wanted to be friends with me. The boy who goes out every night, protecting Queens from muggers and getting a churro during patrol-"

Peter laughed quietly, "Peter Parker doesn't deserve all the amazing people in his life."

"You deserve damn near everything in all the galaxies, the hell do you mean? You? Peter Parker? Deserve the amazing people in your life, and those amazing people? Love you. We love you to death,"

Peter was quiet for a while, pulling his hands into his lap. His Spider-Man suit was still stained with blood, but he didn't care too much of it. He thought about everything that Ned had said just now, and wondered.

"How the hell did I get the bestest friend in the entire world?"

"Bestest isn't a word."

"You ruined the moment!"

They laughed together, Ned covering his mouth and Peter clutched his stomach. The world seemed to melt away, it didn't matter that it was nearing three a.m. or that the tupperware bowl was sitting on the edge of a binder and was close to spilling its contents all over the carpet, it didn't matter because at that moment everything felt okay.

Peter and Ned are best friends. Best friends tell each other everything. Best friends are always there for each other.

_Right_? Right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i feel like the next chapter is gonna be very predictable buuuuuuttttt i'm going to try to be as original as i can with such a common like prompt but uhhh ye


	6. I'm Watching Out For the Little Guy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gauntlet fell to the dirt, Thanos and Iron Man battled for it. Punch after punch was thrown, Tony was thrown to the ground in an exhausted heap of limbs. Peter panicked, Thanos reached for the gauntlet and he was about to die.
> 
> Again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi i'm alive and you've probably read a thousand different versions of this chapter but to be fair it's something neat to write regardless of your opinion so-
> 
> ALSO FUCK YOU NATASHA IS ALIVE

There he stood.

He had been staring at Captain America, _Steve_, like he was nothing more than an ant, and compared to Thanos that's all he was. Though Steve didn't falter even with the permanent wince he was gifted by the wound on his side and a broken shield, pieces of it were littered on the ground. He stood tall with blood and dirt covering his face, Mjolnir in his right hand and ready to face Thanos by himself, Tony, Natasha and Thor injured on the ground, when portals opened from behind him.

Black Panther walked through, Shuri on his left and Okoye on his right. Wakandan warriors were right behind the trio, determination etched into the creases of their eyebrows. Then everybody that had been snapped walked through dozens of portals, all at once. Doctor Strange, Drax, Bucky Barnes, Wanda Maximoff, Peter Quill, Peter Parker, all the Avengers that had been snapped.

They were prepared for battle, even if some of them were a little scared. 

Peter Parker saw it happen before his eyes, the sight of Thanos's army scared him half to death. They littered the ground like plastic in the oceans and the sky was dotted with black specs that he knew were apart of the army that stood behind the purple titan, but it wasn't the size of the army that had intimidated him. No, it was the looks on their faces. Each and every single soldier that stood in front of him had the same looks on their faces, pure rage and disgust. They were ready to rip them apart, limb from limb, kill them all and then leave them lying in a pool of their blood before Thanos could even get his hand inside of that gauntlet and snap away the entire human race.

The Avengers stood in front of their army, broken and bleeding. Thor held Stormbreaker in his hand, blood decorated his braided beard and his brows. Steve held Mjolnir in his own hand, the broken shield was in his other even though it wasn't as useful as it was before. Natasha stood beside him and spit blood onto the ground, her hands hovering over her belt. Tony charged up his repulsors, face plate covering his face when Scott burst through the ground, Bruce, Rocket and Rhodey in the palm of his hand. Pepper Potts landed behind Tony, the Rescue Armour provided her with protection. She glanced at Peter when her face plate retracted and gave him a firm nod with a hesitant smile.

"Avengers! _Assemble_."

Steve called out and Thor cried out, sprinting froward as Thanos's army did the same. Peter followed behind Scott with the sound of his webs, _thwip, thwip, thwip_, were drowned out by battle cries and repulsor beams and Drax's yelling and his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

There was the possibility of losing again, and then he would die,_ again_, which wasn't fun the first time it had happened. The feeling of his body being torn to shreds but his enhanced healing desperately trying to stitch him back together had been the most painful thing Peter had ever experienced.

It was a thousand times worse then when the Vulture had dropped an entire building on him, beat him to death and they landed in literal fire. The Vulture pounded him into the ground with his talons over and over and over again he would have died if he didn't pull himself together.

They had to win, sacrifices had to be made and people were most likely going to die. There were going to be still bodies littering the ground, their pools of blood staining the dirt below them. Their eyes would lose their light and their heartbeats would come to a halt.

People were going to _die._

That reality _terrified _Peter.

His thoughts stopped when his web couldn't attach to anything in the sky, so he landed beside Natasha with a silenced thud. She looked different from the last time he had saw her all those years ago. He knew that she had dyed her hair blonde when she left to who knows where with Steve Rogers, but only the tips of her braid were blonde as the rest was the same color he saw in paparazzi pictures of the Avengers. She looked exhausted, the bags under her eyes were proof enough but even so she was still sharp with her moves. 

If Peter didn't know any better, he would've brushed it off as a sleepless night. But he did know better, he could literally see the guilt weighing down on her shoulders which pushed her to fight so hard to fix what had been done. 

He knew she blamed herself for the snap.

He attempted to assist her but in a matter of seconds, she had knocked the enemy unconscious and huffed. She turned and smiled at him with the time they had before Thanos's goons attacked them again. She looked him over once before her gaze met his and her expression was unreadable for what felt like forever before she glanced down at the ground in obvious guilt but a smile ghosted her lips.

"Your stance was sloppy when you landed." Natasha said, but she refused to meet his gaze.

"Give me a break!" Peter bit back, but there was no actual bite to it. He patted her on her shoulder as a shitty attempt of comfort before turning away. She finally looked up with a look of appreciation before giving him a firm nod. Her face went back to being unreadable.

They parted ways and Peter swung into the sky again, thoughts jumbled and heart racing. The bile attempted to fight its way up his throat but he was not going to let that happen. He couldn't panic, the world was going to end if he didn't get the hell up and fight and keep that damn gauntlet away from Thanos and he refused to let his anxiety take him captive like it has many times before.

He took the gauntlet from Black Panther and landed onto the ground, heart pounding so loud he didn't hear himself activate instant kill when those 'aliens' lunged at him. It quickly became overwhelming and without thinking he shot his hand out and frantically pressed the button that rested in the middle of his palm. He was pulled from the cold, harsh grasps of the aliens and then he was crouched behind a woman (he recognized her from stories Thor used to tell the other Avengers that Tony had eventually told him, she was a Valkyrie) on a pegasus (he hoped that was the correct name for it).

His attempt to introduce himself was cut off abruptly when the pegasus took a dive and he yelped, gripping on tighter so he didn't lose his footing but it didn't matter because they were hit and Valkyrie and him were falling to the ground. 

The impact of the fall made him gasp in pain, his vision went white for a few moments but he shook his head in attempt to clear his mind. 

Tony's grunt was loud and Peter didn't think twice before coming to the man's rescue. It was hard to defend not only himself but Tony all while cradling the huge gauntlet in one arm. Tony had tears in his eyes when he pulled Peter into a hug, though it was slightly awkward with the gauntlet wedged in between the two of them.

Their time was short lived as they were attacked, the gauntlet was a big giveaway. Peter felt guilt and exhaustion settle deep within him but he fought and eventually Thanos released hell.

Thanos's ship shot down at the Earth, no doubt killing many of the so called soldiers on the battleground. He lost his footing and the gauntlet fell from his arms when he reached to protect his head. In his state of panic he completely forgot about keeping it away from Thanos, until the all the chaos stopped and Thanos started making his way over to the teenager.

Peter shot out a web but Thanos didn't have any of it. 

The titan grabbed Peter and slammed him into the ground, stabbing him through his stomach with whatever weapon Peter couldn't see anymore because the pain was excruciating _and_ blinding. He screamed out and suddenly his vision came back to him, where he was pinned to the ground by what looked like a double ended sword or something punctured right through his middle and Tony was battling it out with Thanos.

He knew someone was talking to him, which he recognized as both Wanda and Natasha, trying to get him to respond. Wanda looked at him with tears coating her tinted cheeks as she grabbed his hand. Natasha's bottom lip wobbled and tears pooled in her eyes but she growled at him out of obvious fear, told him to _stay alive, keep breathing, focus on me _but the words never met his ears. They looked terrified, his blood had started to stain their fingers when they applied pressure in a desperate attempt to slow the bleeding but he wasn't focused on that. He was focused on Tony.

Tony's yelling could be heard by nearly anyone on the battlefield as Steve ran out to help, the desperation was etched into their features and the threw punch after punch but none of it had fazed the titan as he easily knocked Steve off of his feet and across the field. It was just Tony and Thanos until Thor had appeared, blood dripping from his lips but he looked so ready to murder Thanos and leave him in a puddle of his cold blood on the floor, his purple head gripped in his hand.

It was Iron Man's and Thanos's battle now, they were battling with so much determination it scared Peter, the shout of frustration that slipped past Thanos's lips and Tony yelling _"Hit me!"_ and Thor channeled lighting into the now open back of the Iron Man suit. His repulsors hit the titan who barely stumbled as he moved to strike Tony again. Tony scrambled backwards for the gauntlet in a state of panic as the broken face plate fell from his suit. Thanos was quicker and hit Tony hard enough he went flying to the side. That didn't stop him though.

The gauntlet fell to the dirt, Thanos and Iron Man battled for it. Punch after punch was thrown, Tony was thrown to the ground in an exhausted heap of limbs. Peter panicked, Thanos reached for the gauntlet and _he was about to die._

_Thanos was going to snap away all of the Earth's population and dust would coat the streets but this time there would be nothing to build from with all of life itself being destroyed by the stones, humans would go extinct and then there would **be nothing.**_

Again. But it was so much more different this time around.

Suddenly Wanda's protest and Natasha's tightening grip on his shoulder meant nothing as he reacted without thinking, a new found determination sent a wave of adrenaline coursing through his veins. The weapon that had pinned him to the ground was suddenly gone and the pain vanished oh-so-suddenly as Peter pressed the button on his wrist as he pushed himself of the ground. The enormous gauntlet flew into his arms and he stumbled slightly, glancing up at Thanos with fear swimming in his eyes.

Peter's pale, clammy skin made him look even weaker when being stared down by Thanos. The purple bags under his eyes and the fresh batch of bruises defined his cheekbones and made him look so fragile and Peter _hated that._

The battle raged on all around them but none of them even dared to breathe too loudly, but he could hear all of their heartbeats. His was the loudest of course, the bile in his throat and his clammy hands caused him to look even more childish and scared _but he was a kid_. He's a fifteen year old boy that had just came back from the dead who was staring a purple titan right in his determined eyes.

If Ned was here as of right now, he totally would've passed out.

"You're not aware of what you're doing, Parker." Thanos had said-no _sneered _at Peter, and he made a move for the weapon that was once stuck in the middle of Peter's abdomen. He hadn't made a move yet, like he was waiting for a response from the teenage boy.

The tears in Peter's eyes fell and he wanted to curse at himself for it, but he was so scared. He had no idea what to do and it was apparent that the broken Avengers that stood around him didn't know what to do either. He was lightheaded from the blood that pooled beneath him on the ground and his vision swam but he maintained eye contact. His breath hitched as the titan started toward him and he mustered up all the false confidence he could, swallowing before he shakily laughed.

"Of course I'm aware. I'm watching out for the little guy."

Wanda seemed to figure out what he was going to do before anybody else had, though her scream of terror fell on deaf ears as Peter slipped the gauntlet on that held the power of all six stones. The pain was killing him quickly with his weakened state, he was barely able to snap his fingers but he did it. The shouts and protests and Steve's loud cry was overpowered by the shock of Thanos's army as they turned to dust.

Thanos accepted it when he kneeled and bowed his head, then he was nothing more than dust that mixed with the dirt below him.

The fighting halted, and together the Avengers watched. The fight had ended and _they had won._

_They won._

"We won." Peter gasped breathlessly, clutching the wound that was still gushing blood. "We-we did i-it..." He choked on blood before he collapsed and suddenly there was more yelling than there had been during the fight. Wanda caught him before he toppled over and together the duo landed on the ground together. She was sobbing openly now and pulled away from the teenager.

"Why would you do that?" She cried and hiccuped but Peter could barely register a thing.

Peter saw Natasha crouch down in front of him and for the first time since he's met her, tears outlined her pale cheeks and her red rimmed eyes met his. Her bottom lip wobbled and she looked like she was hesitating on what she was going to say. Before he knew it, all of the Avengers, the people he grew up idolizing, watched him with teary eyes. Steve watched with horror as he looked down at the teenager's destroyed and bloody form, Thor had tears in his eyes, Doctor Strange looked away out of shock and guilt, Rhodey looked between him and Tony, and _oh gosh Tony..._

"FRIDAY check his vitals," Tony's voice was thick with emotion as he finally rushed forward, collapsing in front of Peter with a terrifying sob. His face was bloody and his tears mixed with the dried blood, but that didn't matter because he failed Peter. The teen was basically in Wanda's lap, not having enough strength to sit up on his own. Tony didn't even hear FRIDAY's report because a whimper was all it took for him to break.

"M'st-M'ster Strk? We-" Peter choked and closed his glassy eyes. "We d-did it, M'ster St-"

"You did it Peter." Tony cried, grabbing hold of the teenager's hand that wasn't being held by Natasha. She had yet to say anything but the look of horror and sadness that she wore implied that she wasn't going to say anything soon.

Peter glanced around and swallowed thickly. He heard Thor whisper something about the sun shining again and Rhodey looked away when their eyes met. Wanda was sobbing into his shoulder and gripped it tightly while Tony searched his eyes, Pepper reached out to grab his mentor's shoulder. He looked away from Tony's angry, horrified eyes and looked at Natasha. She looked upset beyond relief which confused him, the anger and sadness stood out to him and she squeezed his limp hand. He squeezed her hand back lazily and looked right into her teary eyes.

"It's okay," He gulped, a tear falling from his eyes. He could hear his own heart beat slowing, the soft thumping was coming at a slower pace and he was beginning to lose feeling in his limbs. He was growing weaker and weaker by the second. He mustered up enough energy to lean his head onto Wanda's, squeeze Tony's hand and say one more thing that absolutely broke the genius's heart a thousand times over again and again.

"I'm sorry, Tony."

Peter's hand went limp and he slumped over, head tilting back as his eyes glazed over. His wide, brown and red rimmed eyes stared straight ahead at nothing, his chest never rose again but a single tear continued to stream down the bridge of his nose and down his chin before it hit the back of Tony's hand. It was quiet for a moment, the world stopped. The world seemed to dim all around them, even for Sam and Bucky who still held a slight grudge against the teen for meaningless pranks. The world wasn't right anymore. Well it never had been especially with the onslaught of attacks on New York and the world in general, PTSD and anxiety attacks and nightmares that kept them up at night, but nothing would ever be worse than this.

They thought the worst had already happened to them. Anxiety from the attack on New York, PTSD from war, from murder they had no actual control over, but an actual teenager had just gave up his life for the sake of the universe.

The silence was broken by Tony's sob, his head falling onto Peter's shoulder as the sobs racked his body. Wanda placed a gentle hand on the man's shoulder as they cried together. Natasha looked away and bit her lip, tears dripping from her eyelashes. Pepper bowed her head and suddenly Steve kneeled. The rest of the Avengers followed after the captain, silent tears fell the ground that mixed with the dirt and the pool of Peter's blood.

Peter Parker was the best thing that had happened to them. He often helped Tony in his lab on either of their suits, cracking jokes and the conversation was always easy. Natasha and him would spar quite often and the mutate wedged his way into her heart. He would help Bucky and Steve with technology when they got confused sometimes, even if Bucky did snap at him sometimes. Pepper would drop off a plate of food to his room at the compound and sometimes they would watch a show on Netflix together. Sam would teach him how to cook and Bruce helped him on his chemistry homework. 

Peter impacted them in such small, positive ways that the realization of him being gone _again_ and_ for good_ hit them hard. They lost Spider-Man, Queens' crime-fighting-spider, but most importantly they lost _Peter Parker._

Peter Parker was a hero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is highkey overdue and wbk but like my phone stopped working at the football game so i'm writing this on my sister's computer lol bye don't forget to eat ass and smoke grass


End file.
